#13 Wading Boots for Fly Fishing

Wading boots for Fly Fishing, a quick Gear Review

Many of you who are kindly reading my Blogs, have hopefully been able to glean at least a few morsels of useful information from my ramblings, but today I’m going to do a gear review for you, and “talk about wading boots for Fly Fishing”.

 If you are new to fly fishing or learning to cast, you have no doubt by now seen pictures of the modern Fly Fisherman either in person or in adds, all decked out in all of their elaborate and colorful gear. This generally includes the following items:

Hat, polarized sunglasses, fly rod, reel, fly line, a vest or pack, a vast collection of flies, (usually equivalent to a fisherman’s body weight) net, waders, and wading boots.

It is the last item in this list; Wading boots I’m going to spend a little time chatting about today. Your wading boots should be able to accomplish several things. Your boots should provided some form of ankle support while walking along the bottom of a river. Boots should also have a sole that provides the best traction or grip while walking in or along a river, or still water. You do not need to slip and fall while you are fishing. Lastly they need to be easy to put on and off, without too much hassle.

After standing in the water for over Forty years now, I have learned a fair amount about Wading boots, what works, what does not, and things that might help you learn from my trials and tribulations. Today I’m going to do a product review of my new wading boots, Korker’s Dark Horse, men’s Wading boots.

Before I get into my review let me tell you how I originally discovered Korkers boots quite by accident. Some time around 2005, I was heading out for a weekend trip, my first one of the season. I was diligently packing all of my gear in anticipation of the great fishing to come, when I observed as I was packing my current Simms Guide boots, that there was something strange looking about the boots Over the Winter it appears that my current boots had a de-lamination issue with the soles of the boots. I was in a panic; I could never get them repaired by the time that I was to depart. Frantic, I headed over to my local tackle store, in the hope that there would be a Wading boot I could buy to temporarily get me on the water and salvage my upcoming trip. As I scanned hastily among the shelves, I found these “close-out” boots called Korkers. They would have to do as to the time crunch I was under. Upon first glance these boots looked like a normal Wading boot, felt soles, tall ankle height boots, but I was very skeptical of the fact that there were no laces. These boots used a new system called the BOA System. The BOA System was a crisscrossed wire closing design with a knob closure, that was popular with Snow Boarding Boots. In the beginning I was very skeptical of this new contraption that I was not familiar with, but to my surprise it was one of the best items I have ever discovered.

Now let’s fast forward, 18 years to last week when I purchased my third pair of Korkers Boots. I purchased the Korkers Dark Horse model, as my last pair has finally given up the game after many season here in Colorado. I personally get in the water anywhere from 30 to 45 times a season. This involves mainly river trips, some of which will require a short hike to reach the water. If you fit your wading boots correctly they should be comfortable to hike in, without making your feet miserable even before you reach the water.

Next thing is the soles of the Wading Boots. The Korkers have a system that allows you to interchange the soles of the Wading boots, from a felt wading sole to a rubber river gripper sole. I do like this feature, but I have heard more than One critic who does not like the changeable sole design, with claims of soles coming off during a trips through the mud. Personally, I have never encountered this, but not to say it could not happen? To change the sole, you have to first remove the rubber tab located at the rear of the boot, once you remove the tab you now have to unclip the sole keepers on the side of the boot, once you have unclipped these you can then slip the toe clip from under the toe tab. This will free the sole from the boot, and you can now replace the sole with the new sole of your choice.

If you have ever fished in the Winter with snow on the banks of a river, you have a felt sole wading boot then you know how exciting it can be to have a wet sole, combined with freezing temps, and attempt to walk without falling down, the constant buildup of ice and snow as you tread along the bank, is like walking on a pile of banana peels. This is when the rubber river gripper sole comes to the rescue. The rubber sole does not accumulate ice as do the felt soles, and with the gripper patten you have better traction as you contact the snow or ice.

In the water the gripper sole does a fairly good job of walking along the river bottom. I my opinion a felt sole does have better gripping power when it comes to moss cover boulders, but with today’s constant threat of invasive species that can attach to your boot soles, a rubber sole is a better choice for protection of the environment.

Now back to the Dark Horse reviews. Upon initial inspection of the boots, I was pleased with the overall packaging and the look and smell of the new boots. The boots I purchased are men’s size 11, even though I wear size 10, this will give me slightly more room in the foot of the boots, for waders and my Merino Wool socks. If your boots are too close-fitting you may compromise circulation in your feet which may lead to a cold foot, and a miserable trip. With the slightly larger size I do have to deal with what I refer to as “Clown Foot” It’s just as it sounds, shoes too big. It might take a few minutes to adjust to the larger size, but your feet will thank you in the end.

Next up is the BOA closure system that Korkers uses on their boots. This system is bomb proof in my opinion, they give you a small Allen Key so that you can periodically remove the BOA closure and give it a good cleaning. In the years of using this system I have done this but only once a season, or if I spend all day in a very muddy and silty river. Periodic cleaning will ensure the BOA will remain operational and close with a positive “click”. Personally, have never had a wire break during the years of use and abuse that I put my equipment through.

Once you get used to using the BOA closure it is so quick and easy to close your boots, even as you watch your friends try to lace up their boots in the sub-zero temps. As you click the tension knob on your boots, the wire wraps simple cinch up around your foot, and you’re off and running. The size of the BOA knob is slightly larger than a laced boot, but I have never found this to be a problem. Once you pull a gravel guard over the knob it stays covered.

Lastly let’s talk about Korkers’ rock-solid guarantee on their products.

Several years ago, a friend of mine had a failure with his boots, and he was able to send the product back to the manufacturer and they promptly returned a new pair of boots, without any hassles. In today’s society I feel that customer service is becoming a lost art, but the good folks at Korkers still believe in customer service. This along with my previous ramblings and personal experience with this product is the reason that I will continue to be a patron of Korkers Wading Boots.

Do yourself a favor when you finally decide its time to buy your first pair of wading boots. Bring to the store a pair of socks that you intend to use while you are fishing, and even ask the clerk if you can put your foot into a pair of waders while trying on that pair of boots. This combination of socks and waders together should give you a more accurate feel if there is enough room in the boots. The last thing you want to happen is to have the circulation in your feet compromised, which will lead to cold and uncomfortable feet.

 Most boots manufactures today will have already upsized the boot to your street shoe size. For example, if you wear a size 10 street shoe, the wading boot will be already upsized to a size 11, to allow you that extra room needed with waders. Just from experience, bring socks and try them on in person anyway, your feet will thank you in the future.

In conclusion if you do wish to purchase a pair of Korkers Dark Horse boots for yourself, the boots will cost anywhere between $ 183.00-$249.00 USD. Replacement for the boot soles run between   $ 49.00-$69.00 USD Boots generally last about 5 years +/- (I get about 300 day out of the pairs I have used) and if you did decided to purchase a pair of Korkers, Dark Horse or other model, I feel you are making a sound purchase.

If I was to give them a star rating I would give them a 4.5 out of 5.0 stars. The reason I do not give 5.0 stars is because the river gripper soles do tend to wear out faster than I would like and forces me to buy a new sole after about 75-100 days. The good news is the soles are always in stock at my local shop.

Hopefully this will help you as you purchase your first pair of wading boots.

Cheers

Gary